1/5th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers 
1915 -Page 2 on to 1916 - Page 1
The information contained in this document was extracted from the War Diaries of the:
1/5th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
who were part of the 149th Infantry Brigade, 50th Division , during the Great War , 1914 - 18.
I am grateful to Bill Henderson for contributing these pages about his Grandad. The work you see here represents many hours at the Public Records Office in research.
These original handwritten documents are held in the Public records Office, Kew, London under the reference WO95 2828
These diaries record the daily events which the Battalion experienced on the Western Front in World War 1, from the Commanding Officer’s point of view. They are of particular interest to me because my Grandfather, Private 240571 ( formerly 5/2629) William Henderson, served at the front with the Battalion for two periods, the first from:
20th April 1915 until 5th June, 1915, then from 9th October 1915 until 9th June, 1916.
It is these two periods which this document covers, and the content is ,as far as possible, a full and accurate copy of the text contained in the diaries.
Guy Smith e mail: guy@trenchmap.com
1915 -Page 2
Near La Brique Shortly after
midnight the Warwicks relieved those of the Essex
1st June,
who still held the front line trenches , the Essex
retiring to the
CANAL BANK, where
the other half of the Battalion lay in dug
outs. The weather
continued fine and a fairly quiet day was spent,
except for
occasional shell fire , our guns scattering a party
working on the
sap leading up to our trenches. At 9.30pm, the
Kings Own were
relieved from the second line, which they had
held for some
days and moved back North of VLAMERTINGHE,
where
‘B’ Company Northumberland Fusiliers parted from them.
Meanwhile the
Essex had also left the CANAL BANK and moved
back to their own
billets, ‘C’ Company, Northumberland Fusiliers
leaving them an
proceeding to a wood one and a half miles North
East of
VLAMERTINGHE, where they bivouaced, being later
joined by
‘B’ Company and ‘D’ Company, who had left the Royal
Irish after
moving back from the CANAL BANK. The South
Lancs. were
relieved at 10pm. by the Seaforths and moved back to
the vicinity of
VLAMERTINGHE. ‘A’ Company 5th
Northumberland
Fusiliers leaving them and joining the rest of the
Battalion
in their bivouacs about 1.30am. 2nd June.
No casualties occurred
in the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers today.
Vlamertinghe Battalion in
bivouac in the woods to which they moved on being
2nd
June
relieved from the trenches. The usual routine parades were
to
carried out and the men were instructed
in signaling and telephone
4th
June
work, also extra machine gunners received training. A
number of
men also received instruction
on bomb throwing under Lt. KIERS,
bomb throwing being a
very necessary part of the infantry man’s
training.
At this point in time, obviously after being relieved from the
trenches, Acting Lance Corporal William Henderson was returned to England , the reason for
his return is not certain, but it is known that he suffered gas poisoning at some time and
this is the most likely reason for such a quick return to England.
On 2nd July, 1915, he was posted to the 3/5th Battalion, which was a Reserve
Battalion, stationed in England. He remained with the 3/5th Battalion until 9th October,
1915, when he was again posted to the front line and rejoined the 1/5th
Battalion, who at this time were in ARMENTIERES.
Armentieres On the night
of the 9th Companies that were in the town
9th October
returned and we took over the whole of the trenches 79 and 78
1915
and theirsupports from the 7th Battalion
Northumberland
Fusiliers. Thesewere by far
the nicest trenches in the whole line.
‘C’, ‘B’
and ‘D’ Companies were first in the firing line, ‘A’
remaining in support. Whilst
‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies were at THE
CONVENT, a draft arrived of
2nd Lt. DALGLEISH and 44 Other
Ranks. These were
appointed to different Companies and came up
this evening. Some of them
were returned wounded men, but the
majority were new.
(Authors note - This is obviously the draft which Acting Lance
Corporal William Henderson
was part of and the text which refer
to some of them being
returned wounded lends some credence to
the family folklore
that his return to England on 5th June was due to him
being affected and
needing treatment for the effects of gas poisoning.)
Armentieres On the night
of 10th 2 platoons of the Durham Light Infantry were
10th October attached to us
for trench training. One was attached to ‘D’
Company in 78 trench
and one to ‘C’ Company in 79. One platoon
of ‘A’
Company and one of ‘C’ went back to the billets in THE
CONVENT to make room for
them. A very quiet day and no
casualties . Lt. SEYMOUR joined us
on this date from the 3rd
Line.
Armentieres On the night
of 11th. the two platoons of the 14th Durham Light
11th October Infantry were
replaced by two other platoons - the men seemed
pretty fair and took an
interest in things - they were not raw
hands though , as they had been in the battle of LOOS
and had
suffered severely there. One man was wounded on
the 11th.
Armentieres On the night
of 12th. all 4 platoons of the Durham Light Infantry
12th October came in as a
Company. They took over the trench between ‘B’ and
1915
‘D’ Companies. The remainder of
‘C’ Company, except their
bombers, went out into
billets to make room for them. The
platoon of ‘A’
Company in billets was brought back to strengthen
the support line. Some new
batteries of 18 pounders which had
come up were registering on
the enemies trenches and wire this
afternoon. As their shooting was liable to be
rather erratic some
men had orders to go into the shell
shelters, but no accident
occurred and there was not
much reply to our fire. There were no
casualties on this date and
although a few whiz bangs came over,
things were fairly
quiet.
Armentieres
We received orders that a demonstration was to be made on our
13th.October front . In
the afternoon all our men were put into shell shelters,
except for a few
sentries. The artillery commenced to bombard
the German
trenches at 2.30pm. and went on in bursts until
3.30pm. They
bombarded the German wire in front of 80 - the
whole idea was to
make the enemy think we were going to attack.
The Germans did
not seem too worried by our artillery fire and did
not make much
return on our trenches. At 3.30pm. smoke bombs
were thrown
out by our bombers all along the front. This made a
big wall of smoke
and caused the Germans to open fire pretty
heavily with whiz
bangs and machine gun and rifle fire. Our
trenches however
didn’t suffer very much and the men
were pretty safe in the shell shelter. We had no
casualties at all and
were pretty
lucky, considering the amount of stuff that was flying
about. The
demonstration seemed to be fairly successful on the
whole, though
things soon quietened down when it was over.
The Company of
the 14th Durham Light Infantry went out that
night and
‘C’ Company returned.
Armentieres
In spite of yesterdays activity, the day was fairly quiet. We had 2
14th October men
wounded early in the morning however. We received orders
that we were to
relieve the 4th Battalion that evening in trenches
74 and 75
EPINETTE. We were relieved by the 7th
Northumberland Fusiliers early on ( it is now dark about 5.30pm.)
and carried out the relief on the 4th without much difficulty.
Two men were hit
on the EPINETTE ROAD carrying rations that
night, so our casualties were heavier than
normal.
Armentieres
We have been in EPINETTE SALIENT since we first came to this
15th October part
of the line in July. Though 76 trench is considerably
improved, it
always remains a nasty corner. Both 75 and 76 were
found to
be badly knocked about as a result of the enemy’s
retaliation to
our bombardment of 13th and we shall have to
spend all our
time re- building the parapet again and making the
place moderately
safe.
At present there are
great holes in the parapet which of course you
can’t pass
without being fired at. The day was quiet and we had no
casualties,
although the Bosches sent a few shells over about 8pm.
Armentieres
We are to have some more Kitcheners attached to us, we never
16th October seem
to be left alone these days - this time it was the 12th
Northumberland
Fusiliers - two platoons came in this evening.
One was put under
the care of Captain PHILLIPS in 76 and the
other with
Captain FORRET in 75. To make room, some of
our
own men were put into the close support trench. A man of ‘D’
Company was
unfortunately killed this evening while on a listening
post in HOUSE 6
by a shrapnel which the enemy sent over.
Research shows that the following soldier was killed this date and
is buried in
Ferme Buterne Military Cemetery, Nord, France grave
number C.35
Private 5/1943
John Joseph IVINSON, 22 years, son of Joseph
Ivinson, of 21,
Burns Close, Callerton, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Armentieres
2 more platoons of the 12th Northumberland Fusiliers relieved
17th October their
other 2 platoons in the evening. A man of ‘C’ Company was
killed in the
morning by a bullet while building up the parapet in
the salient.
Quiet on the whole. The Commanding Officer and the
Adjutant of the
12th came up and spent the night with us,
departing the
following afternoon.
Research shows that the following soldier died this date and is
buried in Ferme
Buterne Military Cemetery, Nord, France.
Private 5/2957 A. SAVAGE.
Armentieres
We are to be relieved tonight - no one will be sorry - we are always
18th October glad
to get out of EPINETTE. We were relieved by the 7th
Northumberland
Fusiliers and retruned to billets in THE
CONVENT.
Armentieres The
Commanding Officer, Colonel LUHRS goes away on 6 days
19th October
leave today, the Command devolving on Major A. IRWIN.
to
Excellent billets
in THE CONVENT. The usual routine in billet
23rd October
though wehave no early parades. Each Company and all the
1915
details
were inspected in marching order, in turn. We received
orders to
take over trenches 78 and 79 again on the night of 22nd,
but these were
subsequently cancelled. We hear that the Battalion
is to go back
somewhere to rest - it sounds too good to be true.
Armentieres
Orders received to proceed to STRAZELLE, starting tomorrow
24th October
Armentieres
We left Armentieres about 2pm, proceeding by Companies to LA
25th October
CRECHE, where we billeted for the night. Quite a short march,5
1915
miles , but miserable as it rained all
day and the roads were a
horrid
mess.
La Creche
We started again at 8.30am and did the rest of the journey , about
26th October
8 miles arriving at STRAZELLE about 1pm. - it had cleared up
and was very
pleasant after yesterday. The men were pretty
tiredafter this
march, though very few fell out and it is some
months since they
have done anything of a march.
Strazelle
We are billeted in farm houses - the men in barns -
very poor
27th October billets
after our fine houses at ARMENTIERES - but if we are
here long enough,
I dare say we shall be able to improve them.
Strazelle
At Rest!!!! It has done nothing but rain since
we got here and the
28th October
place is a sea of mud. The inhabitants say it goes on like this till
to
March, however everyone
is fairly happy. We have parades in the
31st October
morning and afternoon. The bombers are hard at work training
and the
machine gunners. We hope to train everyone as a bomber
and also a
machine gun section. On 27th there was an inspection
of troops
at BAILLIEUL by H.M. THE KING. We sent a platoon
of 40
Other Ranks and Lt. PATTERSON, which formed part of a
composite Company
made up of all the Battalions in the Brigade.
Strazelle
We are spending our time doing as much training
as the weather
1st November permits,
which isn’t very much as it has been almost constantly
to
wetsince we came here
and the roads and country are all in a bad
4th November state. We are
however going ahead with the training of specialists.
The bombers have
been put all together in a separate billet and are
working as a
Company on their own under Lt. HAGGIE and 2nd
Lt. SWAN. A
reserve machine gun section has been formed and a
reserve
signaling section is undergoing training. The Companies
doing chiefly
drill and short route marches when fine
weather
permits.
Strazelle
On 5th November we had to change our billets to the
East side of
5th November the village. The
farms there, as a whole, were an improvement.
to
A draft of 140 men
arrived from the second line and we had some
9th November difficulty in
finding room for them, but we managed to get them
1915
in by crowding
up.The new draft of men were inspected by the Brigadier at ‘CCompany billet.
Strazelle
Sir CHARLES FERGUSON, Commanding the 2nd
Corps
10th November inspected the Brigade.
The Battalions were inspected separately.
He expressed
himself very pleased with the turn out of the
Battalions and
the work done in the trenches over the last 4
months.
Strazelle
We supplied a fatigue party to dig a skeleton
trench in which it is
11th November proposed to practice
the attack.
1915
Strazelle
The program of training has been brought
out by the Division as
12th November follows:
to
17thNovember 15/11 until
1/12/1915 - (Squad and platoon training
Company Drill training )
2/12 until
9/12/1915 - Battalion Drill and training )
Brigade Training )
10/12 until
12/12/1915 - Divisional training
From this, it
appears we are going to be here for some time.
Strazelle
A draft of 48 N.C.Os. and men
arrived from the 3rd Line.
18th November
Strazelle
A Brigade Route March - Inspection by SIR
HERBERT
19th November PLUMER , who watched
the Battalion march past him en
to
route. The
Battalion has been playing a football match - A
23rd November Divisional competition
has been got up for which we have
entered.
Also we have had one or two games of Rugby.
Strazelle
A bombing competition was held between
Battalions in the
24th/25th Nov Brigade-
we succeeded in winning the throwing competition,
gaining 1st,
2nd and 3rd places . Prizes were given by the
Brigadier.A class
of Scouts has been commenced and lectures on
the subject are
being given by Major BATTYE, GSO 2 50th
Division. 2nd.Lt.
EASTEN has been appointed Scout Officer.
Strazelle
The weather has taken a colder turn and we have
had both frost
26th November and snow, which is
preferable to the constant wet mud. On the
1915
23rd , Captain N.M. NORTH reported from
the 3rd Line. He
was wounded when
we first went to EPINETTE at the end of
July and has been
at home ever since then.
From 26th until
30th November, there is nothing to report.
Strazelle
From now until the 10th, we are to do Battalion and
Brigade
1st December training , that
is as far as the weather permits.
At present we are
busy doing practice attacks on the skeleton
trenches that
have been dug. This gives excellent practice in
organizing the
attack, setting off various bombing parties. First
it was done by
Companies, afterwards as a Battalion. Orders
were written by
the officer in charge of each Line of the attack
and these
were afterwards practiced on the ground. We had two
very long Brigade
concentrated route marches.
Strazelle
We have also practiced an attack in the open,
which was made
10th December very difficult by the
wet state of the country and also its enclosed to
to
nature. We are daily
expecting to hear when we are going back
15th December to the trenches. We
originally thought we were going back to
1915
ARMENTIERES but we now hear the
unwelcome news that we are to go
back to the Vth
Corps, which means THE DEAR OLD YPRES SALIENT AGAIN.
Strazelle
We receive orders that we were to relieve the 9th Division
in the
16th December YPRES SALIENT. An
unpleasant surprise for everyone as up
till a short time
ago we had been told that we were certain to go
back to
ARMENTIERES. We are to go by train from
STRAZELLE to
POPERINGHE. Very busy packing up and
getting
everything ready for the move.
Poperinghe
The Battalion marched down to the station andleftSTRAZELLE
17th December about noon. The
Brigadier, The Divisional Commander and
SIR CHARLES
FERGUSON, Commanding the 2nd Corps,
were all at the
station to see us off and SIR CHARLES to say
good bye to us on
leaving his Corps. We Arrived at
POPERINGHE and
marched through the mud to CANADA
HUTS, near
DICKEBUSCH, where we were to billet for the
night. The mud
round those huts was the worst I have ever seen
- you literally
have to wade to get into them and as we arrived
just as it was
getting dark, it took a long time to settle in.
Ypres
The next morning, the Colonel, The
Adjutant and Company
18th December Commanders had to go
up to see the positions in reserve, that
1915
Battalion was to occupy that
evening. There were dug outs for
2 Companies at H
30a , near the DICKEBUSCH -YPRES main
road -
Headquarters and 1 Company at BEDFORD HOUSE
I26a and one
Company at BLAWEPOORT FARM I27b.
The Battalion
occupied these positions that night, ‘B’ Company
going to H30a,
‘A’ Company and Headquarters to BEDFORD
HOUSE and ‘D’
Company to BLAWEPOORT FARM,
relieving the 5th Cameron Highlanders. Tomorrow night we
are to take over trenches 36, 37 and 38 from the 26th Brigade.
These trenches are on the right of the Brigade sector.
Ypres
We were woken up at 5am by
hearing rapid fire and guns
19th December Firing Soon it was
taken up all around and it was evident there
1915
was something on as the firing became
very heavy. Shortly
after, we got a message telling us to “stand to” and that the
Germans wer
making a gas attack, which was apparently coming
over from the
North side of the Salient, where the attack seemed
to be taking
place as the guns on our side soon quietened down.
The gas was not
strong at BEDFORD HOUSE and we did not
put on on our
helmets, though our eyes were affected , probably
by gas shells and
we had to put on our eye protectors. In the
meantime, the
intense gun fire by both sides was being kept up,
the Germans
shelling everywhere indiscriminately all round
BEDFORD HOUSE and
the roads and there seemed to be shells
dropping
everywhere one looked. About 12 noon we got orders to
stand down, which
was a relief. We heard that the gas attack had
been made on the
6th and 49th Division , who were holding the
line in in the
neighbourhood of POTIJZE and WIELTZE and
that no
infantry attack had followed the gas.
The Germans kept
up the bombardment all day, still shelling the
roads indiscriminately and we thought towards evening that
unless things quietened down a bit , we should not be able to
carry out the relief. However, the Company Officers and
the
Commanding
Officer went up to look at the trenches we were
taking over
and we got orders to “carry on”. The 6th
Battalion
relieved us in Brigade Reserve and we got up to the
trenches without
casualty, which I think was lucky, considering
the amount
of shell fire. We relieved the 8th Gordons in
trenches 36 to
38, the Company being distributed as follows:
‘A’ Company - 36
‘B’ Company - 37R
‘C’ Company - 37L
‘D’ Company - 38
each having one
or more platoons in support.The relief was
completed by 8pm.
The trenches had
been quite heavily shelled into the afternoon
and
consequently were a good deal knocked about. It took all
our time to get
the holes in the parapet blocked up before
morning. The
shelling continued during the night and our
trenches came in
for it again once or twice. We had, in all,
12 Other Ranks
wounded during the night of 19th - 20th,
including 2nd Lt.
BELL , who was slightly touched in the foot
and came back
three days later.
Ypres
This morning nothing happened, although
the Germans
continue
20th December to bombard, the shells
seem to be well over our heads going into
Ypres and
distract us all day. In the afternoon, the trenches were
shelled at
intervals. No casualties . At night, our sector was quiet.
Ypres
Wet, misty and nasty. Quiet all round. What we
thought was
21st December going to be the
third Battle of Ypres seems to have died a
natural death and we hope it wont reinstate. Continued quiet all
day - casualties:
2 Other Ranks wounded. The trenches are not
as bad as we who
have been on the Ypres front in winter before
expected.
Excepting 38, they are fairly dry, the front line
anyway. 38 is the worst trench. It borders the North side of
RAILWAY CUTTINGS.
It is exactly opposite HILL 60, which
commands the
whole country and has an old sap leading into the
German trench at
a point where the opposing trenches are only 18
yards apart
Part of 38 is very wet. The men all have gum boots
and are cheerful,
despite the weather
Ypres
A quiet night, followed by a fine morning
, which is a relief. a
22nd
little machine gun fire during the night
but not as much as
December
expected considering the number of holes in our parapet to be
built up. It
started raining again this afternoon and continued
till night.
Trenches very wet. ‘D’ Company bombarded with
whiz bangs for
half an hour in the evening. No casualties.
Ypres
A fine bright day. Artillery and aeroplanes
active on both sides.
23rd
Turned wet in the evening. We were
relieved in the evening by
December
the 7th Northumberland Fusiliers and marched back to
CANADA
HUTS, a good 8 mile march and everyone was pretty
tired when they
got there. ‘A’ Company had two men wounded
on the way out.
Under the present
arrangement, we go back to the same trenches
every time, which
will make things easier, as we will always know
the trenches.
Casualties : 1
Other rank killed - 3 Other ranks wounded.
Research shows that on this date, the following soldier was
killed and is
buried in Railway Dugouts Burial Ground, Zillebeke:
Lance Coprporal 5/2238
A. ROBERTSON, 25 years, son of Robert
& Maria
Robertson. Born at St. Anthonys, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Canada Huts CANADA
HUTS still in the same state of mud, but much
24th December improved by trench
walks laid on piles, put alongside the huts so
1915
that one can get in and out without
wading. Colonel VAUX and
the Pioneer
Company of the Durham Light Infantry seem to be
doing all they can to
make the place habitable. Spent the day
trying to get dry
- all the men are wet through.
Canada Huts
Christmas Day 1915. Cold, showery, but everyone seems cheery.
25th December A load of plum pudding
had been sent to Battalion and the men
had a good feed -
likewise the Officers, with the help of a few
bottles of
champagne sent from BAILLEUL and a turkey
brought away captive from STRAZEELE. Managed to suitably
celebrate the
occasion. Morning parade service in the Y.M.C.A.
tent.
Canada Huts Cold
and showery, like yesterday. Service in the Y.M.C.A. tent.
26th December
Ypres
We go back into the trenches tonight. Left camp
3pm., the
27th December Companies marching
independently. No casualties going up.
1915
Relief carried out successfully. Found
trenches as wet as when we
left them.
Companies returned to same trenches as last time.
Ypres
Fine bright day. Artillery and aeroplanes
active on both sides.
28th December Casualties : 3 Other
ranks wounded.
Research
shows that on this date,the following soldier was killed
and is buried in
Railway Dugouts Burial Ground, Zillebeke, Ypres
grave number
1.H.25
Private 5/2678
C.R.IONS, 27 years, son of James and Jane Ions, of
‘Lea - Hurst
’, Runnymede Road, Ponteland, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Ypres
Fine day. Wind favourable for a German
gas attack. Our guns
29th December fired on HILL 60 in
the afternoon for an hour - otherwise fairly
quiet. Trench
mortars bothered 38 again in the evening but
were eventually shut up by our field artillery. Quiet night.
Casualties: 5
Other ranks wounded.
Research shows that the following soldier died this date in
England,
obviously having been sent home wounded and is buried
in Whitley Bay
(Hartley South) Cemetery, grave B.C.537
Private 5/2880 H.
LEWIS
Ypres
Fine - rather colder wind, still
unfavourable South East, but
30th December the expected gas attack
still not forthcoming. A lot of artillery
fire on HILL 60 in the afternoon. Our guns fired a lot in the
night in reply to enemy trench mortars, which were as usual worrying .
38 Casualties: 1 Other rank killed 2 Other Ranks wounded.
Research shows that on this date, the following soldier was
killed
and is buried in
Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery, Ypres.
Private 5/ 3369
P. TAIT.
Ypres
Our artillery carried out a
‘straffe’ on the enemy trenches in
31st December. front of 36 and 37, these
on our right. However, we got a good
1915
deal back in reply, particularly near
Battalion Headquarters
in the cutting.
One shell unfortunately dropped outside a
dressing station,
killing Lance Corporal GOODWIN of ‘D’
company and
wounding 5 others, amongst whom were Lt.
BIRNIE, Royal
Army Medical Corps and Sergeant GRAY, the
Medic Sergeant,
who has done consistent good work all the
time he has been
here.
In the evening,
relieved by the 7th Northumberland Fusiliers
Casualties: 1
Other Rank killed
Lt. BIRNIE and 8
Other Ranks wounded.
Well, so ends
perhaps the most memorable year in history .
Most of us think
and hope that in this case history won’t repeat itself.
Research shows that the soldier killed on this date was
Lance Corporal
5/692 L. GOODWIN, 28years, son of
John and Sarah
Goodwin, of 16, Mitchell Street, Walker,
Newcastle upon
Tyne. He is buried in Railway Dugouts
Burial
Ground ,
Zillebeke .
1915 -Page 2 Back to1915 - page 1 On to 1916 - Page 1 On to 1916 - Page 2
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Guy Smith e mail: guy@trenchmap.com